As I drove to Ingleside Sunday morning, I saw water standing in ditches on the sides of the road. What a beautiful sight. A long period of drought made such a sight impossible before yesterday. One can only hope that the precipitation picture will improve, although the experts say that 2012 will be another drought year for Texas.
Where is Elijah when we need him? He announced a three-year drought to King Ahab, and it came to pass just as he had warned. After the contest with the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel, God sent the promised rain. When the time was right, "Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. 'Go and look toward the sea,' he told his servant. And he went up and looked. 'There is nothing there,' he said. Seven times Elijah said, 'Go back.' The seventh time the servant reported, 'A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.' So Elijah said, 'Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling.." (I Kings 18:42-46 NIV).
The current wisdom states that "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." Elijah disproves that; he not only talked about the weather--he did something about it.
We, on the other hand, must live by conventional wisdom; we can talk about the drought, and be thankful for recent rain, but the outcome is all in God's hands. Jesus put it this way: "He (God) causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45 NIV).
Joseph advised Pharaoh to take advantage of the bumper crops of great harvests, to store the crops and distribute them during the years of drought. In other words, he advised the king to have a plan and then to administer it. Perhaps there is a lesson there for us. We know that we have cycles of good weather on the one hand and drought on the other. Even in our complex society, it might be possible to take actions that would prepare us for the lean years. If the people of Egypt could do it thousands of years ago, perhaps we in the technological world of the 21st Century can learn from them.
Anyway, praise the Lord for the recent rains. We really needed them. ]]>
Some folks believe that the ancient Egyptians, who accomplished unbelievable scientific projects, were in fact aliens from some other planet. Movies and T.V. series have been based upon this idea. We still do not know how the Egyptians were able to move incredibly heavy stones over long distances and use them in construction projects so precise we can hardly rival them ourselves. We find it difficult to believe that such learned scientists could have lived in ancient times.
We sell them short in our estimation of their developed abilities. We don't think they should have been able to rise to such heights of learning.
Today's evaluation of humankind's abilities is stretched in the opposite direction, for we think there is nothing beyond our reach. We have built buildings so high that different weather systems must be taken into account in each floor's climate control schemes. We are "humanists" to the nth degree not only in scientific disciplines, but also in philosophy, theology and all the arts. As one intellectual boldly declared, "There is no longer any need or room for God."
I am reminded instantly of a verse in the Bible which simply declares, "The fool has said in his heart, 'there is no God" (Psalm 14:1). The equipment we use to come to the conclusion that God does not exist is part of a masterful design. The New Testament declares the human body to be a "temple of God." By design, it is a marvel. When in good health, all of its systems work together seamlessly to give the illusion of unity, but in fact many separate systems are being correlated to produce a single action, such as raising the arm. Every living thing in this world is a miracle in itself, not to mention the earth itself and the family of celestial bodies to which it belongs.
Seems to me we need to credit the ancients for using their minds to become creative, not forgetting to give ourselves credit for the same, but always thanking God for creating us with such potential for greatness. In our sane moments, we give God the glory for all good things.]]>
The Beatitudes of Jesus introduce the Sermon on the Mount, which has been called the "Constitution of the Kingdom of God." Here's the Phillips translation of the Beatitudes:
When Jesus saw the vast crowds he went up the hill-side and after he had sat down his disciples came to him. Then he began his teaching by saying to them, “How happy are the humble-minded, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs! “How happy are those who know what sorrow means for they will be given courage and comfort! “Happy are those who claim nothing, for the whole earth will belong to them! “Happy are those who are hungry and thirsty for goodness, for they will be fully satisfied! “Happy are the merciful, for they will have mercy shown to them! “Happy are the utterly sincere, for they will see God! “Happy are those who make peace, for they will be sons of God! “Happy are those who have suffered persecution for the cause of goodness, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs! “And what happiness will be yours when people blame you and ill-treat you and say all kinds of slanderous things against you for my sake! Be glad then, yes, be tremendously glad—for your reward in Heaven is magnificent. They persecuted the prophets before your time in exactly the same way. (Matthew 2:1-12).
Some people are very critical of the teachings of Jesus. They say they are impractical. They say, "No one can live by a standard that high. Besides, some of those sayings don't make sense." Does it surprise you that some people feel this way? It shouldn't come as a surprise, because, as Paul told us, "The god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of those who do not believe" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Some of the happiness and joy that we claim as Christians is ours because Christ has opened our spiritual eyes and ears so that we now understand His teachings. They make sense to us.
Let's face it: Jesus offers a life that is radically different from the life offered by the world, the flesh and the Devil. Perhaps the main message of the Beatitudes is that obedience to Christ, even when the world scoffs, is the key to happiness.
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Tonight at prayer meeting I will present a devotional thought from Mark 7:24-30. The passage begins by stating that Jesus left Galilee and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. This was Gentile territory. As Dr. A.T Robertson wrote, "There was too much excitement among the people, too much bitterness among the Pharisees, too much suspicion on the part of Herod Antipas, too much dulness on the part of the disciples for Jesus to remain in Galilee." (Word Pictures in the New Testament).
Jesus was seeking quietness and rest. He entered a house, hoping to find solitude, but soon word spread that he was there. A woman from that region came to him, begging him to drive a demon from her daughter. The language of the gospel is tender here, calling attention to the loving relationship between this woman and her little girl. This woman was in pain because her loved one was suffering.
She is described as "a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia." She was a Greek in religion, a Syrian in language, and a Phoenician in race. From Jesus' point of view as a Jew, she was as Gentile as a person can be, but from his point of view as Savior, she was a precious soul in need of help.
I view their conversation as banter between two instant friends. Jesus says, "It's not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs (the Jews' name for Gentiles)." This sounds harsh, but I believe Jesus says it with a slight smile, or an expression that says, "You know that's what my people call you, don't you?" But this woman sees through Jesus' words into his heart, and, almost smiling, replies, "Even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." (Kids always secretly feed their pets this way, so I'm sure there was almost a smile as she spoke the words).
"Then he told her, 'For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.' She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone" (Mark 7:29-30 NIV).
Such is the love of Jesus, and it's still the same today. His heart goes out to the lost and suffering people of the whole world. Every person is precious in his sight.
MARK 7 (NIV):
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.[g] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, 'For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.'
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
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My sisters and I lived with our grandparents off and on throughout our childhood. During World War 2 we lived with them several consecutive years. We ate a lot of meals around that old round table with a center pedestal. At the foot of the pedestal, under the table, big lions' paws reached for the feet of the diners. We at a lot of biscuits and corn bread, turnip greens and collard greens, navy beans and pinto beans, and occasionally pork chops, ham, steak or chicken. My grandfather always had pepper sauce on the table, which he enjoyed with many different foods, mainly greens. For breakfast there was oatmeal and for supper there were leftovers, because my grandmother always draped a tablecloth over the food when lunch was over. At suppertime the tablecloth was removed and presto, there was supper.
During and after the meal, my grandfather bragged on the food and complimented the cook. Every meal, without fail, he made my grandmother feel like everyone appreciated her hard work in putting a meal on the table.
Every once in a while, she would bake "tea cakes." They were giant, thick cookies that tasted like pie crust, slightly sweet. We loved them with coffee, and they always let me drink coffee (mostly milk). Hey, I'm 80 years old--it can't have done much harm. I'm still here, and still drinking my coffee. These days, however, I put Hazelnut creamer in it. Call me a sissy, if you will, but I like it. It's worth getting up each day just to have that first cup of coffee.
When I went away to college, my grandmother would bake tea cakes for me, and my grandfather would box them up and mail them to me. He wrote me a card every day that I was in college.
He offered little suggestions along the way, like "Don't slam the door," and "Always say, "Yes Sir" and "Yes Ma'am." He told me several times as I got older and nearer marriage, "Son , it's always the best meal you ever ate." I didn't have any trouble remembering that, because Wanda always put a tasty meal on the table. But I never forgot what he advised me to say. I didn't need this verse, shared with me this week, from an old cookbook:I found a poem as I was browsing the "Find a grave" web site. It tells of pictures we have and how among them are some faces that we don't recognize. Are they relatives? Friends? Pivotal people in family history? We do not know, and possibly never will. Perhaps some of you have experienced this. The poem reminds us that there is still time to help future generations know who the people in the photos are. Click here for "Strangers in the Box" by Pamela A. Harazim.
Dwight is doing his best to make sure we identify as many of these pictures as possible and has posted them on the Flickr web site. As of today, the number of posts is 13,171. Click here to view them if you like.
Incidentally, the Flickr site was founded by Caterina Fake, a distant relative, and her husband. You can read about her in Wikipedia. We have never met, but Dwight has talked on the telephone with her father about ancestry and genealogy matters. Dwight began posting to Flickr with no knowledge of its founder.
My maternal grandfather never met a stranger. More than likely, in the course of a conversation, he would discover that he and this new friend were related somehow. So label those pictures, y'all. You never know what might result.]]>
Dwight took two great pictures this week. Both were in our back yard. One was a Red Shouldered Hawk and the other a Roadrunner.
The hawk first appeared on the other side of the house, across the street, atop a tall power pole. We heard him calling early one morning last week. It sounded to me like the call of a Cardinal ("cheer, cheer"), only deep throated and screechy. It made four utterances at each call. He called and called. Finally Dwight answered him with the same call, and away he flew. Here's his picture in our backyard this week:Photograph of Red Shouldered HawkThe roadrunner was first seen by us because Dwight's cat, Pepper, had him treed. After a few days, he appeared again and Dwight took his picture in our back yard. Here he is:
Photograph of RoadrunnerThe closeup pictures show that roadrunners have eyelashes. Something we didn't know about them. I know you can find many pictures like these on the internet, but these pictures were made by Dwight Fake in the backyard of our Rockport home. That makes them more exciting--at least to us. I think he did an excellent job of photographing these wild birds. ]]>
What do you know about Texas? More specifically, what do you know about the population of Texas: who are the people and how many are there? If you click here, you can see official demographics.
I read in a news article this morning that Texas grows in population by 1,200 people every day. It's one of the fast growing states.
This fact has implications for every one of us, especially those in business. The grocery business, for example, has a spokesman who says, "Every one of those people comes equipped with a mouth and a stomach." In other words, 100% of the increase in population is destined to do business with a grocery store.
While churches are not businesses, they share in the concern for reaching those millions of people who have come to Texas in recent years. Jesus said, "Go into all the world and make disciples.." Here in Texas, He might have said, "The world is coming to you. Make disciples of these people." ]]>
Tonight I will present a devotional thought at prayer meeting. It will be based on Mark 7:1-23, which shows how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for giving a lot of attention to human religious rituals while at the same time neglecting matters far more important to God.
I was reading Dr. A.T. Robertson's "Word Pictures in the New Testament," an in-depth study of the text in the original Greek. Not only was the great scholar an expert in the Biblical language, he was also an able practitioner of English. In his discussion of Jesus' rebuke of the Pharisees, he says, "It was a home thrust to these pettifogging sticklers for ceremonial punctilios." I confess I had to look up those words in a dictionary. (Testimony to how language changes in 100 years).
Dr. Robertson chose the exact words for the description of religions leaders who were overburdened by lesser things as they despised the things God cared about. The dictionary told me that a "pettifogger" is "one who quibbles over trivia," and a "punctilio" is "a petty formality or fine point of etiquette."
The Pharisees and some of their teachers saw Jesus' disciples eating without going through the washing ceremonies. The purpose of the washings was to make food ceremonially clean (people knew little if anything about germs in those days). Jesus said to them, " You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions" (Mark 7:8 NIV). He quoted Isaiah 29:13* as the basis for telling them so.
Simply put, Jesus made it clear that they were not defiled by what they put into their stomachs, but by what came out of their hearts. They needed to get their priorities straight. Do we?
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*"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules."]]>
I mentioned a few weeks ago in this blog that I do not solicit comments, because our polarized society has produced feelings so strong these days that comments often are intended to make points so strongly that contentions result. I said at the time that those who know me and have my email address are free to contact me if they wish.
An example of what I was talking about appeared today in a respected minister's blog. He said in his blog that he was thankful that Governor Perry's entrance into the presidential race was in response to the call of God. He said if the governor had not withdrawn from the race he (the writer) would have remained silent, but since he is no longer a candidate, he feels free to share some of his own thoughts about it. The blog writer said he was impressed with Governor Perry's entering the race because he felt called of God to do so, and urged other Christians to listen for such a call from God to become involved in government.
Well, the comments started coming in and very few agreed with him. They disagreed for various reasons, but their comments were strong. It was the first time since I have been reading his blog that so many responses have appeared. As I say, they disagreed with the writer for different reasons, but hardly anyone shared an encouraging word.
I suppose I do this partly for the "fun" of it, so there is no place for comments. Here is where "seldom is heard a discouraging word." (and the skies are not cloudy all day).]]>
The football playoffs are over and the stage is set for Superbowl XLVI in Indianapolis February 5, 2012. The New York Giants and the New England Patriots will represent their conferences in the annual spectacular. Most of the playoff teams were evenly matched, it seemed to me, and any of them could easily have made it to the big showdown if the games had gone only slightly differently. So it seems to me. Your ideas about it may be different from mine. No matter. The directions of our own lives have little or nothing to do with football.
In the meantime, the Republican hopefuls for the candidacy of their party now number only four. Three of the four have won at least one of the three state primaries already held. The next one will be in Florida. I have not heard of a challenger for the Democratic Party nomination, so I assume the incumbent can expect to be the candidate.
Competition is built into the fabric of our culture. Churches vie for members, stores for customers, banks for depositors, while schools compete in many types of sports and academic contests. Meanwhile professional sports move from one type of sport to another, all of them fiercely competitive. The whole world joins the competition when the Olympic games take place. Wouldn't it be nice if we had games instead of wars to settle our international disputes? I know what you are thinking: "Dream on!" O.K., I will.]]>
A popular song, "Another One Bites the Dust," came to mind yesterday when I read of Eastman Kodak filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak, was born in 1854 in Waterville, New York, near Utica. My great grandmother was born there also in 1848. Since learning of that common interest, my heart has gone out to the company he founded and the thousands of workers displaced by an industry that has changed remarkably.
When photography was first introduced, only relatively few people had access to the equipment necessary to photograph families and scenes. The craft required tripods, flaming illumination, glass slides, hoods for the photographer, etc. Consequently many towns across the United States waited patiently for the arrival of a photographer, who would make a portrait for every family willing to dress up and pose. The process was slow, and the subjects had to hold their pose for each shot, and that probably accounts for the fact that few smiling faces are seen in the ancient photographs of long ago days.
Then came George Eastman, who offered handheld cameras to the general public, along with roll film that allowed several pictures to be taken on the roll. In no time at all, virtually every family had a "Brownie" camera, a little box with a viewing lens that you held at your waist, looking down at the little picture on the camera, and pressed a little lever. That was it. When the roll was full, you removed it from the camera and took it in for processing. Soon your pictures (black and white, of course) arrived and everyone was ecstatic over the splendid results. No doubt your home is host to many of those old pictures today. I can't tell you how many times I looked into that little box and was told to "Smile!"
Later, a sensation was created by the company when it offered the tiny Instamatic camera. You may have at least one of these lying around somewhere in your house. Seems like everyone had one. Through the years, competing companies offered similar cameras. Success for Eastman Kodak, which at its zenith employed thousands upon thousands of people around the world. We called any handheld camera a "Kodak."
Real competition began in the 1980's when Fuji Film was developed in Japan and sold in the U.S.A. at cheaper prices. The film quality was excellent, and Kodak had problems on its hands. Kodak continued to do well, however, and as late as 1997, its stock sold at $97 per share. Today it's worth only 37 cents. "Another one bites the dust."
The chief problem for the company today is digital photography. The computer age has opened doors unforeseen in past days. You can take pictures, transfer them to your computer, and print them on professional quality paper all by yourself.
I personally hope Kodak can rise again from its ashes. It helped to make America the place where everybody wants to live.]]>
Sound the alarms. Blow the whistles. Ring the bells. Turn on the sirens. Let the horns blow. Disaster is on the way. It's no joke. It's going to happen. Everything has been set in motion for a collision of galaxies. That's right. Our own Milky Way Galaxy and the neighboring Adromeda Galaxy will collide. Two billion years from now. I know it's so; I read it today.
Two billion years is a long time. That's two thousand million years. I suppose I can wait a few years before worrying about it every night.
Jesus warned us about stacking up earthly belongings and putting all our hopes in them. He reminded us that everything eventually rusts, decays or is in some manner consumed by natural processes, but he didn't mention the collision of galaxies, perhaps because we will all be gone before that happens, or maybe because the earth itself will be destroyed before the galaxies collide.
The Bible does predict the destruction of our world by fire. Peter is the one who wrote about it: "..the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire.." (2 Peter 3:10 NLT).
Peter continued, "Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live.." (2 Peter 3:11 NLT). Then he said, "..we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13 NLT).
Since in one way or another, everything you see around you will someday be gone, why not build your life on the "Solid Rock," Jesus. As the song declares, "On Christ the Solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand."
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Yesterday I had some papers notarized. I went before a person known as Notary Public and signed a legal document. The Notary then signed as a witness to my signature and stamped the document with a seal. I put the document into the mail and when it arrives at its destination, the recipients will be able to say with certitude that I signed the document myself.
The seal of the Notary, who was appointed by the Texas Secretary of State, gives dignity to the document because of the certain honesty of the person whose signature and seal is now a part of the agreement I signed.
It is a wonderful situation when people can be trusted to be truthful and honest.
Jesus urged us to speak the truth in all honesty and forthrightness: "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one" (Matthew 5:37 NLT).
God thunders from Heaven to us: "Let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream" (Amos 5:24 ASV).
"Tell the truth." "Be honest in all things." "Let integrity be your hallmark." "Be sure people can trust you in everything." Let "I give you my word" be the last word necessary because the person to whom this is said believes that word , having no reason to doubt.
Perhaps the nicest thing about always telling the truth is that we don't have to think back on what we said the first time we told the truth. We can easily do it again, because it is the truth.
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Sometimes I buy stuff at the grocery store that I never use. The last time I bought a box of biscuit mix, it stayed in the cabinet long after the "use by" date expired. So when I brought home a new box, and Dwight was helping me unload the groceries, he held up the box and asked, "Do you want me to put this in the cabinet or go ahead and put it in the trash now?" I confess, that was a week ago and the box has not yet been opened. But I'll get around to it sooner or later.
Actually, I made some biscuits recently with basic stuff like flour and shortening. They were pretty good. But I've discovered the ones that come in an exploding container, and I like them better. Some of them are even buttered when they pop out. The first one is always wonderful. After that, they qualify as "day old" or older. My clue to knowing when to throw them out is the mold that appears after a while, although, as we all know, the mold can be removed from a perfectly good biscuit. After all, it's only leavening that got tired of doing nothing.
I learned from Ruth Conner that those flaky layered biscuits make great breakfast toast. They come apart easily, fit right into the toaster oven, toast in a jiffy and taste great. I eat them for breakfast in one of three ways: natural, with honey, or with syrup. I think I like the honey best. But it costs a lot more. Must be something to do with paying bees union wages. But the syrup is great, too. Many people were raised with biscuits, syrup and bacon or sausage for breakfast every morning. They never got tired of it.
Not long ago, after a Vermont trip, Robert and Diane came back with a bottle of genuine maple syrup for me. Now that's what you call an expensive gift. I ate it as slowly as I could, to make it last. It was great on those toasted biscuits.
So, here's to biscuits: homemade, canned, frozen, toasted, old-time or avaunt-guard--all delicious!]]>